


One is the Loneliest Number

by Silver_Shortage_in_Markarth



Series: un conte de fée de JeanMarmin [4]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Marriage, Multi, Polyamory, Polyandry, Remarriage, Remarrying your Ex, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-02-29 14:50:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18780481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Shortage_in_Markarth/pseuds/Silver_Shortage_in_Markarth
Summary: Marco's been having a bit of a hard time lately.Luckily for him, his two best pals are willing to help him out in any way they can.Anyway.





	1. Chapter 1

It was another yet date night for Jean and Armin. Or rather, it was a mixture of date night, and looking for some beach supplies for any potential trips to the ocean. It was looking for supplies, that ultimately ended up turning into going to dinner at yet another new place that would open up then close down eight months later.

Whatever it was they were doing, it left Marco all alone in their house (Jean's mother was out of town somewhere else, visiting a couple of her friends). He was laying on the couch next to his table, the latter of which in recent months had acquired a portable TV. Marco could only take so much viewing of _The Golden Girls,_ though _._ He liked the show, but even he had limits in regards to watching it. 

When he'd had enough of it, he promptly clicked the TV off, and rolled onto his side in order to take a nap. However, he couldn't get comfortable in any position. So, instead, he got into his wheelchair and made his way to the computer room. But that couldn't hold his interest, either. 

"I wish I knew where that old Game Boy Advance of mine went," he told himself while rifling through the desk drawers. He knew that it was well behind the times of the gaming world, but he still liked it. It had been a birthday present from Jean from over a decade ago. That alone meant it had significant value to him. 

Marco considered calling Jean to ask him if he knew where it went, but he didn't want to interrupt his and Armin's date. So, he continued to look, to no avail. When nothing came up, all Marco could do by then was sigh and wheel himself back out to the living room. 

He then lay back onto the couch, turned the TV back on,  and watched pro wrestling until he eventually passed out. 

...

"Why are they selling back to school supplies when it isn't even July yet?"

Jean was a little annoyed to see notebooks and ballpoint pens up for sale next to the floaties and beach balls. 

Behind him, Armin shrugged while making his purchases. "Probably the same reason some places sell Christmas ornaments in October; helps to be prepared." 

"Yeah, I guess." Once the two got their choices and headed to checkout, Jean felt the need to bring something else up for the sake of conversation: 

"So what's this about Jaeger going out with some Ackerman guy? Is he that really short, pissy-looking one?" 

"Levi? I think so." 

Armin was surprised to hear Eren was in a relationship. His new boyfriend seemed to be hard to get along with, but Eren clearly didn't care about that. Mikasa didn't seem to like him all that much, though. According to Eren, Levi had come over for tea once, and Mikasa glared at him the whole time. 

"I don't think Mikasa is aware of the absolute extent of their relationship, though. As long as she doesn't cause too much of a spectacle about it, it should be fine." 

The two went quiet for the remainder of their time in the store, paying for everything and getting out as soon as possible. 


	2. Chapter 2

When Jean and Armin returned home that night, they were almost immediately tearing at each other's clothing. They only paused when they had noticed that Marco was sound asleep with the TV on. Not saying a word, Jean picked up the remote and turned the TV off. 

"Don't think he wants that on all night," he whispered when he set the remote back down onto the table. "It might ruin the vision in the one eye he has left."

Armin didn't give a verbal response. He just nodded and followed after Jean into their room. Both of them then proceeded to do the thing that married couples in love tend to do. 

...

The next morning, Jean and Armin were wrapped up contentedly in their blankets, like some kind of strange human burrito that smelled like sweat and jizz. The two of them were sticky and gross, but neither of them wanted to separate and be forced apart. Instead, they nuzzled noses and snuggled. 

At least they were until both of them felt each other suddenly get pulled off the bed and onto the floor. Just as they were about to confront the jerk that interrupted their quiet time, they caught a glimpse of Marco's wheelchair moving away from them. 

"That was...odd," Armin said as he and Jean got to to their feet, uncaring in regards to their unclothed glory. 

"I'll say," Jean responded whilst rubbing the sand out of his eyes. "Usually he says Good Morning first before he does that." 

Going out into the living room (after getting dressed, of course) showed the tire marks of his wheelchair (and at one point an abrupt stop into a doorway; it sucked having only one eye). 

...

In the kitchen, Jean's mother was dipping a teabag into a cup of hot water. She seemed awfully nonchalant and even exhausted, ostensibly from last night with her friends. 

"Hey Mom," Jean said as he and Armin came in to see her at the breakfast table. "Any idea where Marco went-" She put up a finger to stop him talking, before rubbing her temples and gesturing towards the backyard door with her head. 

"He's out in the hammock," she mumbled almost incoherently. "Seemed upset about something." 

Seeing that his mother probably didn't feel up to conversation right now, Jean quietly thanked her and went out into the yard with Armin at his side. 

...

Although it was on the verge of summer, Marco still covered himself up with a few thin blankets and shawls (he still got cold quite often, something he blamed the painkillers he took on). 

Now, after consuming aforementioned painkillers, he ended up becoming drowsy and falling asleep in the surprisingly deep hammock that the family had for some reason. 

His snoring was so loud, Jean and Armin could hear it from at least a few feet away. It was almost unbearable to listen to once the two of them got close enough to talk better. 

"You'd think he got hit with a tranquilizer dart, the way he sounds," Jean told Armin while thinking of the best way to wake him up. "And I should know; I shot him with one by accident when he and I were on our honeymoon." 

"Yes, I believe you told me about that, once," Armin said as he wandered to the other side of the hammock to try and help Jean. The two then tried to figure out together how to wake Marco from his drug induced slumber.


	3. Chapter 3

"Marco," came Jean's voice as he leaned in and waved a hand over Marco's face, like he thought he would somehow see it while sleeping. "Marco. Hey. Hey, Marco. Marco. Hey. Marco." The entire time he was doing this, Armin just stared at him with a nonplussed look on his face. 

Regardless of what Jean tried, Marco remained asleep, completely dead to the world while snuggled up in his covers. Or it could've been that he was faking it to try and get Jean and Armin to go away. Armin was suspecting the latter situation to be the case here. Just to be sure, however, he reached over and pinched Marco's nose shut.

This got the result he expected; Marco was quick to start coughing and batted Armin's hand away from his face. His initial annoyance faded when he saw it was his friends. 

"Huh...?" He tried shaking the slight disorientation from his head before he could form any coherent sentences. "Oh, hey guys."

Marco adjusted himself so he was sort of sitting up in the hammock. "Something wrong?" Jean and Armin looked at each other for a brief moment, before Jean grabbed hold of Marco and slung his over his shoulder, to the latter's shock and displeasure. Marco then proceeded to beat on Jean's back with his fists, demanding to be put back down, while Jean walked into the house with him.

Armin followed close behind, pushing Marco's empty wheelchair along. 

...

"He still isn't talking to us, is he?" That afternoon, after lunch, Jean and Armin were left to try and figure out how to get Marco to stop being mad at them. Marco was laying on the couch, his arms crossed and his lip in an angry pout like a petulant child that had just been put in time out.

"Nope, not talking to us." Armin stared at his empty plate (which just minutes before had proudly displayed a turkey and cheese sandwich) for a few moments. "Did he do this at all while you were married to him?" 

Jean shrugged, making a sound of resigned admittance. "Only when I did something that severely pissed him off.

"Thing is," Jean went on. "I have no idea how I did that this time. Well, besides picking him up and hauling him into the house earlier. He never did like when I did that."

This was going to bother them both until they could figure out what precisely the issue was. 

...

No matter how many times Marco had been looking at himself in the mirror lately, the same vitriol and self-hatred spewed out of his mouth. Tonight, as he got himself ready to take a bath, was no exception. 

"Look at you," he moaned out to his reflection as the water ran, "look at how repulsive you are, inside and out." 

It was hard to explain when exactly Marco started feeling this way. All he really knew was that it could get really bad. 

"You're ugly! You're stupid! You're a burden! You're a failure! No wonder your best friend couldn't stand being married to you! It should've been _you_ who died in that accident, not those other three!" 

By now, Marco had begun to pound his fists against the wall on either side of the mirror. The bathtub was also beginning to overflow, water spilling onto the floor tiles. Marco ignored it; it helped muffle his voice anyway. 

"Your best friend's moved on! Why can't you?! He found the perfect husband! But you?! You can't even walk! Who wants a mangled, crippled mess like you, anyway?!" 

Anything else on his mind faltered before escaping his lips. Given the hot water now, there was an excess amount of steam gathering in the air surrounding him. 

It didn't take much longer for Marco's reflection to fog up. He tried wiping it away from the mirror to keep staring at himself. Shortly after, though, the heat got to him, causing him to topple to the ground and pass out.


	4. Chapter 4

"Marco...?" 

When Marco next awoke, it was to the faces of the three adults he lived with. In stark contrast to his sweating, naked self from earlier, he felt much cleaner and more cooled down. He also felt himself wearing a set of Armin's sleep clothes. 

"Eh?" His eye darted from one to the other. "Wh-what...?" 

"We all heard you shouting in the bathroom earlier," Armin said to him. "Once we were able to unlock the door, we found you on the floor not moving." The state in which he had been found could not have been a very pleasant one. Marco figured that much. 

He didn't know how to explain it to all of them, though, even when prompted. 

"Marco, dear..." Jean's mother knelt down next to him and pushed some of his hair away. "What's wrong?" 

The question alone seemed to shatter something inside of him. Marco could now feel himself beginning to breathe deeply, in an effort to control the imminent tears. 

"What's wrong is...I guess I'm having a problem with..." He couldn't finish; Marco had to cover his mouth and nose with his hands, closing his eye so he didn't have to look at them. His body was then wracked with sobs, which terrified the others. 

Carefully, so he didn't bother him too much, Jean sat next to Marco and pulled him into his lap. He let him bury his face into one of his shoulders and let it all out. 

...

Now that Marco had calmed down and got himself sitting back into his wheelchair, he was able to explain what had been bothering him lately. 

"I guess whenever I see the two of you together lately," he told Jean and Armin, "a part of me gets...jealous?" 

Armin tilted his head in confusion. "Why?"

"You could've said something about it, Marco," Jean piped up. "There's not really any point to hold it all in until something like what happened earlier comes to pass." 

"And what, be seen as the jealous ex-husband who can't seem to move on?" Marco frowned, feeling terrible for even having this problem. "Believe me, I don't _want_ to be jealous! It makes me feel like a horrible person.

"But every time I see the two of you being all happy and couple-y, it makes my chest hurt."

Jean's mother now put her hands on his shoulders, rubbing them as he started crying _again_.  

As Marco looked up again, he was caught off guard by both Jean and Armin hugging him tightly. Their trembling seemed to indicate that they, too, were upset about all this.

"You still should've said something, Marco," Armin said to him as he pulled back. "If we'd known you were hurting like this..."

"Yeah, way to make us look like insensitive assholes," Jean replied in turn. 

Miss Kirstein watched the three with their group cuddle. As she did, an interesting suggestion came to mind for her. She was going to wait until they were done here first, though. 


	5. Chapter 5

Jean's mother was positively beaming as she stood before the three men in front of the courthouse. She gestured with one hand to get them all in the range of her phone's camera, before she got them in place for whatever pose they had in mind. Then she moved back herself to have more room to work with. 

"Okay, boys," she told them as she lifted her phone up and held it steady. "On the count of three: One...two...three!"

On cue, Jean and Armin simultaneously leaned in and planted their lips onto Marco's cheeks. With one hand, they both held a marriage certificate indicating a polyamorous relationship. The other held Marco's hands. Marco himself displayed a face of absolute joy and happiness. 

As it turned out, it had indeed been Miss Kirstein's idea to do such an odd thing. Of course, she had to go through quite a lot of red tape and legal issues to even make it possible in the first place. But as long as it meant that all her boys were happy, then it didn't matter how much she had to deal with. 

Upon taking the picture, Miss Kirstein approached them again and showed it to them. It seemed as though they also were pleased with the end result. 

"So when can we get that printed out and framed, Ma? I'd kind of like to not wait to show off my two good looking husbands," Jean asked and commented, to both of Armin and Marco's shared amusement (both of them were quite flattered at his words, however). 

By the end of the day, all three boys were joyously celebrating their new upgraded relationship (in more ways than one, of course). It was going to be a challenge to see how many different ways a paraplegic could have a threesome, but that wasn't really an issue for any of them. If anything, it sounded kind of fun. 

When Jean's mother peeked in that night, she smiled at seeing the three of them huddled together under the covers. Jean and Armin were positioned in such a way that it was clear that they both had their arms around Marco. That proved it to her that this unorthodox idea was a good one after all. 

With her day officially made, Jean's mother grinned to herself and shut the door. 

...

After Mikasa had gotten home early that night, she was completely unaware at what was going on in the kitchen. Rather, she was rummaging through some quick snacks she picked up at the gas station on the way home. It was while she was munching on a donut that she did find out what was going on. 

"Eren!" She called out with her cheeks full of donut to keep her speech audible. "I'm home!" Each and every step that she took, brought her closer to a most unexpected discovery.

She was certainly caught off guard at realizing the door to the kitchen was locked (they didn't do that in case one of them got home before the other). Without a key, Mikasa had ended up resorting to slamming into the door to get it open (it was a rather shitty lock). 

"I brought you your favorite-" She was finally stunned into complete silence at what precisely she was staring at. 

...

Eren glanced about frantically, trying to figure out the least suspicious thing to say to his adopted sister right now. It wasn't every day he got walked in on completely naked, while his new boyfriend plowed him hard against the kitchen table and held him by the hair while holding him down. 

"Uh..." He gripped at the sides of the table, as though bracing himself for any of Mikasa's imminent actions. "Didn't hear you come in, Mikasa. Back so soon?" The entire time he was trying to delay the inevitable, Levi still had yet to yank his dick out of Eren's ass. 

He was also still holding his head against the table surface. 

The amount of silence that passed between all of them was indicative of just how bad she was going to react to this. 

Sure enough, in less than five minutes, Mikasa was chasing a naked Levi out of the house with a butcher knife, screaming her head off the entire time. All that Eren could do as she pursued Levi was grab his clothes, and quick pull them on. He then ran out of the house himself, begging Mikasa to stop what she was doing. 

All in all, it was kind of a weird night. The neighbors being woken up to check out the commotion certainly attested to that. 


End file.
